Apple has recently purchased New Zealand based Wireless charging technology company PowerbyProxi that designs wireless power solutions according to the reports from Stuff; a New Zealand based site. Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering Dan Riccio has confirmed the acquisition on Wednesday.
PowerbyProxi is a New Zealand based company that was founded in 2007 with an aim to develop wireless charging technology that lets you charge smartphones and other devices without requiring a cord.
The company has developed Proxi-Module which is a modular wireless power and data transfer system that is capable of adapting and integrating a wide variety of products and situations. By using a 65mm power coil, the hardware can deliver up to 100 watts of power to devices like drones and robots with up to 91 percent efficiency which is currently the highest in the market.
The internal circuit design of the Proxi-Module supports foreign object detection, dynamic pairing, and other advanced features and also has a waterproof design which allows for various uses cases and docking solutions. The company is also marketing Proxi-Com which is an add-on-unit that integrates with Proxi-Module to convert wired data signals like CAN bus, Ethernet, and GPIO to wireless.
Whether Apple would allow the sale of current PowerbyProxi products is unknown but going by the previous scenarios, hardware companies bought by Apple cease the production to work on in-house initiatives. However, there are exceptions like the Beats Music. Apple recently joined the wireless-charging race with the iPhone 8, 8 Plus and the iPhone X that the company introduced back in September.
Talking about the same, Riccio said:
PowerbyProxi team will be a “great addition as Apple works to create a wireless future. We want to bring truly effortless charging to more places and more customers around the world.
Commenting on the Acquisition, PowerbyProxi founder Fady Mishriki said:
The team and I are thrilled to join Apple. There is tremendous alignment with our values, and we are excited to continue our growth in Auckland and contribute to the great innovation in wireless charging coming out of New Zealand.